Broken (The Immortal Coven Book 1) (19 page)

23 generations of witches must do something to a man. But what exactly that is remains to be seen.

The cab pulled down a dirt path, the trees covering all around making it seem like we were driving into the wilderness, when all of a sudden we entered a huge clearing with this enormous castle in the far distance.

“Wow” as a sigh was all that escaped my mouth.

The closer we drove to this magical place, the more I felt I’d been here before, seen this sight, and lived in this fairytale.

“Has the coven always met in this place?”

Dmitri nodded his head, squeezing my hand while still keeping his sight out into the distance.

Are you okay? 
I asked him, worried something was wrong.

I need you by my side, Celia.
He turned to look at me,
This place brings back far too many memories.

I didn’t say another word, or ask unspoken questions. Something was plaguing him, and the longer it took for him to confide in me, the more it weighed on my nerves.

The van circled around a giant water fountain at the front of the entrance and came to a stop.

“This place is amazing.” I sighed, smiling at Lisa who had hardly said a word since we got into the cab.

“Just wait until you see the inside.” Valerie interrupted, taking her large Gucci bag out of the trunk.

“More like wait until you see your guest quarters. They are all mini apartments.” Kyle added, helping Lisa with her bags.

A statuesque figure walked down the steps from the front opening and greeted us as we walked up.

“Good evening, my name is Claudino; I will be your private butler for your stay. Let me show you to your guest chambers.” He greeted us so professionally. His stance stiff but his demeanor seemed very pleasant.

I hurried ahead of the rest, curious about our stay and the castle’s history.

“How long have you worked here?” I asked him, following merely 2 steps behind him.

“Oh, I have been here quite a while. It’s such a peaceful work environment, even when it’s the busy season.”

“When is that, typically?” I added as he looked back when I fired out my next question.

“The holidays are particularly busy as we have a big Christmas and New Year’s celebration each year.”

Turning the corner, we walked into a great room. The view was stunning. The marbled walls were lined with upper windows which all met a great mural of angelic magnitude on the ceiling.. The white and black checkered flooring echoed our footsteps, leading no one to wonder if there was anyone around.

We followed, ever so slowly, the butler who had taken to waiting for us as we walked with our heads staring up at the different artwork on the walls. Late 16
th
century art made up a pretty impressive collection of masterpieces.

“Can you imagine living here?” Lisa asked, her whisper echoing throughout the room.

We giggled and caught up to everyone who had started walking faster to meet Claudino.

The moment we reached the rest, he stopped and faced us.

“This is the west wing. As you can see, there are several different areas of the castle. It is at the request of the main resident, the Duke of Marlborough that you keep to the west wing for the duration of your stay. This is to say, if you need anything at all, you may ask for my services. If you wish to visit any other part of the castle, we will do so at appropriate times.”

He didn’t wait for any questions or responses. It was not a request he was relaying but more a command to stay out of sight.

The hall we turned down was much like the previous area only now filled with voices and life.

Valerie’s name was called out and laughter and cheer rang through the hall.

Four different women I’d never seen rushed over to her, hugging her and asking her how she was.

She turned to me, leaving a great space in my direction, “Ladies, this is Celia, Nanette’s daughter.”

I will admit, I wasn’t grateful for the spotlight. My hand, which had been firmly in Dmitri’s grasp, at that point was let go. My eyes met his, caution clearly lined mine, and I had to ask what to do.

You greet them. They are your coven sisters now.

Gazing back at them, I moved in their direction and they each reached out to hug me.

“I am so sorry to hear about your mother.” One said, patting my loose hair.

“I know, I cried for days when I heard the news. Your mother was one of my very good friends, I’m Katerina.”

The name sounded familiar. “Did you use to call the house all the time?” I asked her.

“Yes, and you would almost always answer.”

Recalling the calls, I felt more at ease. I’d known her, even if I didn’t really know who she was.

“But dear, we’ve all met you before. It was a very long time ago, but you should remember the snow and the afternoon we spent outside in the garden by the bridge.” One of the other women said.

“I don’t know, I want to say I remember, but they’ve always felt like flashes of a dream.” I tried to recall what she was talking about but the memories were like phantoms dancing in the endless sea of thoughts passing through my mind.

“Let’s get your things to your room.” Dmitri suggested, looking to the ladies who had taken us from our original task…get ourselves settled.

“We will talk later.” I smiled at them, turning back to Dmitri who had already begun making his way towards Claudino at the end of the hallway.

He gestured for me to walk into an opened doorway, but I didn’t quite understand. The room looked to be a giant library.

“I thought we would each have our own room.”

“Yes, this is your room.”

With wide eyes, “but this is a library?”

His face softened, “It’s not a library, and it’s just filled with many books that are of particular interest for your cause. You were chosen to have this guest quarters for a particular reason.”

“Oh, I’m to study then?” I asked, my question directed at Dmitri who was a few feet behind me.

“It’s a privilege to be in this room, Celia. Don’t kick a gift horse in the mouth.”

My head flung back sarcastically, “because I am to know these things.”

Claudino gestured for me to enter and boy was I surprised when I did.

It wasn’t just books, there was a study and a four post king sized bed that reached at least 15 feet high. The engravings on the bed gave the impression that kings and queens would have stayed in this room.

“I take it back, I swear, I could live here forever if you let me.” I giggled at Dmitri.

“It is very tempting, especially when you visit the gardens.”

“Well if you don’t need anything for the night, I will let you relax and get yourself situated. Please pull the cord if my services are required. I will go see the remainder of your party to their chambers.”

Claudino swiftly turned and left, but I was pleased that he had been the one to greet us and take such patience with us.

The moment the door shut behind him, I dropped my bags and bolted to the bed. In one swift jump, I cleared the foot board and landed square in the middle of pillow paradise.

There is a heaven in knowing that a bed could be so comfortable. I turned and looked up to the open part of the bed. Its design allowed you to see the mural painted on the ceiling. This one looked to be of Greek apathy. Angels were floating around a bunch of half naked men, their arms reaching out to women on the opposite side of the ceiling.

“Dmitri, have you ever shared this room with any of your other witches?”

His hands stopped removing items from our bags and he looked up to me, our eyes meeting.

“I have never shared a room with any of my other witches, Celia. You should know that I am treading on uncharted territory with you here.”

“Then I feel better. This place is too beautiful to share old memories with anyone from your past.”

His face shifted down, going back to what he had been doing, but I saw the smile he was trying to hide.

“I will warn you, however, about the lady of the castle.” He sighed, still working on unpacking us.

My interest was immediately peeked. “Oh.”

“The coven will probably tell you about her, maybe to gauge if you care for such things.”

“Why would that matter?”

“Because your mother died, Celia, they will want to know if you’ve asked to summon her spirit.”

I jumped on both knees the moment he said it. “Can I do that?”

“You shouldn’t.” he snapped back, his head shooting up and our eyes locking. It was not negotiable, I could tell.

“Why?” I asked, making sure it wouldn’t come out defiant.

He shook his head, pulling clothes out of my last bag. “The natural progression of life and death has boundaries. The moment you cross those boundaries, you change the type of witch you are choosing to be.”

“So it’s the difference between being a good witch and a bad witch?”

“It’s the difference between being a natural witch and a dark witch.”

“But those lines are crossed all the time, aren’t they. I mean, sometimes we have to make quick decisions and don’t have a choice on the spell we use.”

“No, there is no grey area in this. The moment you use dark magic, your energy becomes tainted. You change and I have never known a witch to come back from a change such as that.”

“So that’s it then, someone can turn from good to evil with as simple as a spell to defend themselves.” I threw my hands up in the air.

“Dark magic is more than just words strung together, Celia. There are rituals, tools used. Life sources diminished to accomplish Dark spells that change us.”

“My book doesn’t explain any of this.”

“It wouldn’t. Your mother’s line has never faced a moment where a choice would be made, and I doubt it ever will.”

“Good, you had me worried there for a minute.”

Closing the distance between us, he met me at the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to worry, my sweet. You have me, anyway.” His arms wrapped around my waist and the warmth of his body felt comforting.

“Am I going to have you this close the whole visit to this place?”

His face bent down to mine and his lips grazed mine softly, “As tempting as that sounds, I will actually be in the adjoining quarters.”

His admission brought my eyes to widen. “I am not going to be able to fall asleep in here by myself.”

“Then I will lay with you until you are off into the dream world, but you must know that nothing is going to happen between us.”

Here it was, that moment of embarrassment. We’d never talked about sex, not that it was always on the brain or anything, but every 17 year old girl wonders if it will ever happen.

“Do you ever think about it?” I asked, my cheeks heating up at my audacity.

“More times than I care to admit,” he kissed me again. This time, he slowly opened his mouth, making it more of a distraction, the passion in my gut jumbling up my thoughts.